Artificial intelligence drives fewer, albeit more specialized, jobs around the globe.
There is a danger in being left behind in a rapidly increasing digital age.
For years it has been acceptable to opt for a flip phone, pass on the latest smart television and resist the urge to enter the vast social media realm in one’s personal life. But through the scope of global workforce capability, it’s in one’s best interest to advance digital skillsets and harness the ability to apply artificial intelligence (AI) in day-to-day operations.
Interests and concerns raised by the consequences of AI led researchers at Lightcast to delve into a new Global AI Skills Outlook to explore how adapting AI skills in high demand will be the key to building a future-ready workforce. These concerns include a wide range of potential impacts related to university provisions, the economy and unemployment rates while considering a company’s benefit in leveraging AI usage.
“One of the greatest challenges, whether it’s about AI or anything else in the labor market, is that if we are not informed as organizations, as individuals, as workers, as students and potential workers, and don’t see these trends happening, it’s very difficult to get on board,” says Lightcast Global Business Unit Executive Vice President Andy Durman. “If we can empower people to invest time, effort and money into building these skills it will really help people progress in the labor market.”
A look into official labor market data, job postings and professional profiles guided the team in building the report, which was released in August 2024. Data collected from 16 countries within North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific gave a glimpse into what many employers are currently looking for.
“It is quite global in the sense that we cover quite different regions of the world,” Lightcast Head of Global Research Elena Magrini shared during the Outlook’s webinar. “So, we have data from the U.S., Canada, the UK, a number of European countries, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.”
The study identified a list of 250 skills related to different elements of AI. Across the 16 countries analyzed the most common skills required included machine learning, natural language processing, robotics, generative AI, autonomous driving, neural networks and visual image recognition. In the U.S., for example, roles such as computer scientist, software engineer or developer, web developer, UI/UX designer or developer and cybersecurity engineer or analyst were most often associated with these mentions.
“Most of the narrative around this has been around dramatics and sensationalist headlines about old jobs being overtaken,” noted Magrini. “But in reality, one of the things we are seeing is that AI is not just about job losses. In fact, we are seeing AI is also creating demand and new jobs across the world.”
The U.S. hold the highest concentration for generative AI skill demand, containing a majority of the report’s Top 50 Hotspots. San Jose, California; Topeka, Kansas; San Francisco, California; Trenton, New Jersey; and Seattle, Washington, lead the country in 2023 job listings looking for workers skilled in applications such as ChatGPT.
“AI isn’t taking over jobs,” Magrini said. “Rather it is augmenting different tasks within roles. It is like a superpower in a sense, improving the efficiency of specific roles. There are a lot of opportunities, and I think in time we will see further developments on the ramifications of the implications of this in the labor market.”
Among the top 20 Hotspots in 2023, Singapore (No.10), Barcelona, Spain (No.11), Toronto, Canada (No.12), and Dublin, Ireland (No. 18) additionally saw a high concentration of generative AI skill demand. Job postings in Singapore largely focused on data scientist, research associate, UI/UX designer and marketing specialist roles. In general, Singapore has led globally in its share of AI job postings since 2021, holding 4.92% in 2023.
From 2022 to 2023, there was a worldwide decrease in overall AI job postings. Magrini said that this is not due to AI becoming less relevant, but has more to do with a current downward shift in recruiting within the tech industry as companies restructure. But for talent across every industry, it is a signal of new opportunity. Lightcast researchers found that AI-skilled employees could earn a higher salary on average across a number of industries like marketing, finance and sales.
“What we are seeing is that employers are willing to pay a premium for workers that have skills in AI,” says Magrini. “Workers that are willing to invest in AI skills, in learning these new technologies and are able to work with it well are more likely to find employers willing to pay for these skills that are still quite scarce in the labor market.”
The average salary premium in 2023 for U.S. roles requesting AI skill showed that a General and Operations Manager can earn $73,258 more than a role not requesting the skillset. Meanwhile, a non-managerial role such as an Operations Research Analyst requiring any AI skill can score a salary over $40,000 more than the average.
“It’s easy to reflect on a few years ago when we all and our community started really thinking about AI and we heard the scare stories and dystopian stories that a lot of jobs will be eradicated and maybe in time that will come to pass,” says Durman. “But I think that what we are seeing is more of an evolution here than a robot revolution.”
Where Is U.S. Tech Talent Going?
CBRE’s Scoring Tech Talent 2024 report found that halts in tech industry recruitment brought a noticeable impact to North American talent employment. The report notes that for the first time in its 11-year history, non-tech industries such as Professional and Business Services (49,760) and Transportation, Warehousing & Wholesale (45,390) hired more tech talent workers than the tech industry itself (28,978). In 2022, industry employment grew by 7.3%, only to fall to 3.6% a year later. Data show that AI software developers and programmers made up 72% of new tech hires in 2023.
On the other hand, CBRE notes that job postings including an AI skillset have risen since late 2023, increasing by 27% or 44,000 jobs in mid-2024. Between the U.S. and Canada, there are currently 325,000 AI-skilled tech workers. Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are home to 60% of Canada’s share. In the U.S., San Francisco, Seattle and New York hold most of the nation’s talent for the second consecutive year at 44% or 124,195 jobs.
The industry has quickly found its footing in No. 1-ranked San Francisco Bay Area, employing more than 436,740 as of 2023. Over the course of five years, the region led the nation in tech employment growth, adding 68,610 new jobs. For City and County of San Francisco Director of Business Development Laurel Arvanitidis, such activity is the result of building a culture of risk-taking and creativity for generations.
“We have an incredibly educated and diverse workforce,” says Arvanitidis. “We encourage people to dream and create new things, then have been able to capitalize on that and continue that virtuous cycle of the next dream being here.”
Noting the importance of factors like a changing tax system and a new business tax credit, she says these initiatives will aid the city in continuing to build an ecosystem that talent, companies, startups and venture capitalists trust. In addition to top universities like Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley nearby, talent can find opportunities to work directly with local companies through programs such as Tech SF. The partnership created by San Francisco and the U.S. Department of Labor offers no-cost tech training to participants of all ages.
“I’m proud of the base changes we are making to our city to show businesses and talent they are wanted. We’re working hard on that and showing meaningful outcomes,” says Arvanitidis. “I’m proud of the founders that are continuing to choose San Francisco as a place to found and grow their companies, and I’m excited to see what’s next.”
The top three U.S. markets, respectively, followed by Washington, D.C., Boston and San Diego are where tech talent in 2023 were landing the highest annual wages, with San Francisco leading with an average salary of $177,636.
“Increased demand for specialized skill sets in artificial intelligence has fueled tech talent job growth across all sectors. We anticipate more tech hiring to take place this year and into 2025 as companies further develop and adopt this technology,” said CBRE Tech Insights Center Executive Director Colin Yasukochi.
